Media Category: issue

Detail of table end of Norwegian spinning wheel. Shows metal tension screw and sliding metal plate under mother-of-all.

Norwegian spinning wheel with extremely slanted table, with sliding metal tension system.

Detail of mother-of-all on upright wheel from Bergen, Norway. Mother-of-all is made with copper and brass.

Upright wheel from Bergen, Norway, painted teal and rosemaling on treadle and table, with metal mother-of-all.

Late “Hippy period” great wheel: detail of rocking tension device, which is a completely separate piece.

A very plain great wheel with direct drive spindle head, from late “hippy period.” The drive wheel has a thick rim.

Detail of tension holder and spindle head holder on “Moon Over Spoon” wheel.

“Moon Over Spoon” great wheel, with curved table and finely turned tension holder and spindle post.

Detail showing distinctive turning on spokes and close spacing on drive-wheel hub.

Cummer #94, horizontal treadle wheel with 36″ drive wheel with twenty spokes, all components have delicate turnings, curved table has chip carving on edges

Index to #98 -2

Index to “The Spinning Wheel Sleuth” newsletter. Issues 1-98.

Model is a miniature: overall 7 ½”, 12″ long, 5″ wide, 4″ diameter drive wheel. Mounted on a wooden rectangle. Frame has three uprights two in the back that hold the drive wheel, and one in front. Bar between front and back frame holds end of a metal rod that goes to the floor where it connects with an accelerating head and a moving arm that holds a spindle head.

Model is a miniature: 1 ¼” wide, 2 ¼” deep, 3 ½” high. Two U-shaped metal sides hold a table top. A treadle is located between the front part of the legs. It is connected to a drive wheel attached to the right side of the frame. A drive band circles the drive wheel then goes through holes in the table top and around a pulley on a bar. The bar is located between two metal uprights. Another bar goes between the tops of these uprights. On the left side of the lower bar is another round piece of wood that rubs against the small wooden pulley on the top bar that makes the spindle at the end turn.

Model is a miniature: 11 ½” high, 11″ long, 5 ½” wide. Two vertical wooden frame elements meet at the top. A third piece goes down to a cross bar or track forming an A-shape. A treadle is attached to the right side of the frame and connects to a lever at the top. A wheel with a handle is also attached to the right hand side above the track. At each end of the track is a knob with a pulley. Cords run from the knobs to a spindle head on the track. A bobbin/flyer unit is also shown.

Simple spinning wheel: Three turned legs hold a rectangular frame of two long and two short, turned wooden rods that is 24 ½” wide and 15″ high from the floor. The drive-wheel diameter is 19″, and its axle rests between the two long, rounded elements of the frame. Two threaded rods fit into the front of the frame with the bobbin and flyer unit at the top. The height from the floor to the top of the tension screw is 29 ½”.

Horizontal treadle wheel with nicely turned spokes on the drive wheel and a slightly slanted table. Three parts of distaff are present and the top section is a flat piece of wood with curved cut-outs.

Spinning wheel in center is an upright wheel on a frame. Drive wheel is behind the frame, treadle is inside frame with bobbin/flyer unit on top.

Two bobbin/flyer spinning wheels: Bobbin/flyer wheels with three legs and a treadle, and a spoked drive wheel. Tables are steeply slanted with two back legs fitting into the ends of the table. on wheel on left-hand side, drive-wheel supports are almost parallel to the ground, so have small braces for reinforcement.

Order form issues in print dec 17

Order form, issues in print, Dec 2017

Child-size spinning wheel from Thailand. Small wooden frame [14″ x 6″ (~35.5 cm x 15.25 cm)] holds two tall parallel posts. The axle of the drive wheel fits between the posts. The 10″ (~25.5 cm) diameter bamboo drive wheel has eight pairs of spokes set into rim consisting of two parallel bands of bamboo and has a crank. 7″ (~17 cm) spindle at other end of base is attached to two short posts.

Small wooden base [15″ x 13¾” (~38 cm x 35 cm)] has at one end two posts with notches at top. Set into the notches is small reel with four arms strung diagonally with cotton thread. At the other end of the wooden base are two more posts holding a bamboo bell-shaped bobbin; attached to one of these posts is a drive-wheel with a metal crank with a wood handle. A heavy drive cord runs from the 4½” (~11.5 cm) -diameter drive wheel to the axle.

Horizontal treadle wheel with simply turned legs holding a rectangular table. Drive-wheel support posts only slightly slanted. Drive wheel has 14 spokes. Tension screw at end of table, large collar holds the mother-of-all and bobbin/flyer unit; a wooden rod between the tops of the maidens.

A black and white photograph that came with great wheel marked F. A. FARNHAM. A girl, who appears to be about 6 to 8 years old, perches on the table of a great wheel, which is situated in the corner of a room. She has relatively pale skin and dark hair, and is wearing a fancy dress. There is a window with plants on a table in background.

Great wheel marked “W. FITZ”.

Stamp of the maker’s mark W. FITZ on the top surface of the great-wheel table.

The Spinning Wheel Sleuth: The First Ten Years compilation cover

The Spinning Wheel Sleuth: Back Issues 39-70 compilation cover

Four issues of The Spinning Wheel Sleuth.

Norwegian-style spinning wheel built by Manville Hagen of Minnesota. Rectangular horizontal wooden table held by three legs has treadle underneath. Two tall vertical support posts on the right hold the drive wheel which has twelve spokes. On the left of the table two short posts hold a secondary table which contains the mother-of-all.

Friction drive spinning wheel made by Gisborne Engineering Company in New Zealand in 1918. A square wooden frame has one upright post on the right hand back corner. A metal wheel is attached to the upright and a rod connects it to a treadle on the front of the frame. In front of the drive wheel is a bobbin/flyer unit that is turned by friction from the drive wheel.

Spinning wheel with slanted table and treadle supported by three legs. Slanted wheel supports hold a drive wheel with eight spokes. Incomplete mother-of-all, distaff, and an additional post on the table. All the turned pieces (legs, wheel supports, spokes, and distaff) have round turnings often found on Dutch spinning wheels.

Brother Christian using a scutching wheel, c. 1994. A man holds a handful of flax straw over a board, next to a large wooden wheel with eight wooden blades set into it. The wheel axle is supported by a wooden table-like frame with a treadle underneath.

Brother Christian turning the rotary brake on a scutching wheel, c. 1994. A man holds flax straw in his left hand while he turns a metal wheel with his right. The metal wheel rotates a pair of interlocking cylinders that crush the straw as it goes through. The device with the cylinders is attached to a wooden bench.

Two early hand-forged ripples, used for removing the seed balls from the pulled and dried flax plants. The ripples look like long-toothed combs. The shaft extends beyond the width of the teeth and the ends of the shaft turn at right angles from the body of the shaft to point away from the teeth. The larger of the two ripples has some decorative work on the shaft and the outermost teeth have decorative curls on the ends.

Hackle with stencil on the back side “BENJ. PIERCE/Chesterfield N.H.” A wooden base with about 18 staggered rows of 7 or 8 long, pointed, metal teeth.